Catching Up
by FancifulRivers
Summary: Ginny texts the wrong person, but maybe Luna wasn't the wrong person after all. Written for the OTP AU! Competition, Round 3.


**Author's Note: I do not and never will own Harry Potter.**

 **Written for the OTP AU! Competition. Round 3: Accidentally sexting a random person AU. Pairing: Ginny/Luna.**

"Hermione, how does this thing even work?" Ginny protested, poking the mobile phone with her index finger. It vibrated and she jumped, nearly falling off her bed. Hermione snorted beside her.

"I've already explained it three times, Ginny," Hermione said. "Don't tell me you're scared to use it."

"Of course not," Ginny snapped. "I just- It's Muggle, all right, you know how Dad is with everything Muggle, so many things have blown up in our shed-"

"Still," Hermione said, raising one eyebrow. "Text Harry or something. Make sure it works."

"All right," Ginny said. She scrolled through her new "contacts list" until she found his number, pondering what to text him.

"I'm going to sext him," Ginny announced. "That's what you called it, right?"

"Yes..." Hermione said, drawing out the word and staring at Ginny, her mouth dropping open a bit. Ginny grinned.

 _"I'm in bed right now, wish you were with me,"_ she texted, feeling her cheeks heat up as her fingers moved clumsily over the keys.

"You are awful," Hermione said, throwing an overly stuffed blue pillow at her. Ginny giggled.

"Like you wouldn't text my brother something even worse if you weren't with me," Ginny accused. Hermione looked pointedly out the window. "That's what I thought," Ginny added.

The phone vibrated again.

"Oh," Ginny exclaimed. "He replied, didn't he-what?"

The words staring up at her from the small screen were definitely not from Harry.

 _"I would be happy to be with you, if I knew who you were."_

"Hermione?" Ginny asked. "Um- you gave me Harry's number right, didn't you?"

"I think so," Hermione said, rummaging around in her bag and extracting a folded piece of notebook paper. "See?" She proffered it to Ginny, who unfolded it with slightly shaking fingers.

"Oh no," Ginny groaned. "I transposed the last two numbers. I just sent that to a stranger."

"Well, just tell them that, I'm sure they'll understand," Hermione pointed out.

"Right," Ginny nodded. "I hope."

 _"Sorry wrong number,"_ she sent back. Within a few minutes, the reply came back.

 _"I was wondering. The Wrackspurts must have been very busy in your head this morning. I hope you have a better day."_

"Oh no," Ginny facepalmed into her bedspread. "I didn't send that to any old random stranger. I sent that to Luna Lovegood."

* * *

Hours later, when Hermione had already gone home, Ginny realised that she had no idea what to say to Luna. She couldn't see how it could be anybody else. Who else believed in Wrackspurts (whatever they were)? Luna's father? She blanched at the thought. _Please, Merlin, don't let that be the case_ , she prayed. _I will die first_.

Heaving a sigh, Ginny pulled out her mobile again, looking at the last text from the contact she'd re-named Luna.

 _"Sorry, I know this must sound creepy,"_ she started to write. _"But is this Luna Lovegood?"_

 _"How did you know?"_ the response came back almost immediately.

 _"Who else talks about Wrackspurts?"_ Ginny pointed out.

 _"I'm sure there are many people,"_ Luna replied. _"But I'm at a disadvantage, aren't I? Who is this?"_

 _"Ginny Weasley,"_ she said promptly. _"Hey, uh, want to hang out or something? Harry doesn't get out of work for hours, and Harpy training isn't until next week."_

 _"Sure,"_ Luna said. _"Where would you like to meet, Ginny?"_

 _"The Three Broomsticks,"_ Ginny texted, before going to her closet and studying the limited assortment of robes she had. She had to find something at least marginally attractive, didn't she?

* * *

Luna was standing outside when Ginny arrived, twirling a long curly strand of dirty blonde hair around her finger and humming. She was dressed in slightly filmy blue-grey robes that looked surprisingly good on her.

"Ah, Ginny," Luna said, smiling brightly. "You're here."

"Uh, yeah," Ginny replied. Her cheeks heated up, and she had no idea why. "Let's go in?"

The pub was dark inside, and blessedly cool. Ginny ordered butterbeer for both of them while Luna found the table. It was tucked into a corner and had a tablecloth patched together with bright stitches and a plant hanging overhead. As Ginny walked over, carefully balancing both mugs, the plant snapped at her.

"Oh, careful," Luna said, reaching over and snagging her butterbeer with alacrity. "Don't mind the plant. I'm sure he's just teething."

"Sure," Ginny replied, casting a wary glance upward. She could swear the plant managed to smirk. "So how have you been?"

She settled into her seat as Luna talked, meandering on about more imaginary creatures, working with her father on the Quibbler, and debating going for a degree in Magizoology.

"You'd be good at that," Ginny told her, and Luna's cheeks blushed with pride.

"I'm glad that you think so," Luna said softly, her smile tilting up one side of her mouth. "What about you?"

"Quidditch," Ginny replied with enthusiasm, going on about the Holyhead Harpies and her new position, how she'd tried out and nearly fallen off her broom into a tree, but avoided it last minute. "And Harry, of course," she tacked on. "What about you? Any boyfriends?"

"Oh no," Luna shook her head, staring pensively into her butterbeer. "No girlfriends, either."

"I'm glad we caught up," Ginny said, feeling awkward and shifting on the bench. Her clothes suddenly felt itchy. "It was nice to see you again."

"Yes, it was," Luna nodded, but there was a shadow in her eyes that Ginny felt like she'd put there.

"Are you all right?" Ginny blurted. Luna paled a bit, but she nodded and took a final sip of her butterbeer.

"Of course," Luna smiled. "Never better."

"I don't think you're telling the truth," Ginny challenged, not knowing why she did it. "Come on, Luna. You can tell me."

"No, I really don't think I can," Luna said quickly. "You have your- Harry, and you really don't need to hear any of my relationship woes."

She rose, stumbling in her haste, and tripping over another chair. The sound her nose made hitting the floor was a painful-sounding crack, and Ginny went dead white before leaping off her bench and hurrying to Luna's side.

"Are you all right?" she babbled, clutching at the sleeve of Luna's robes.

"I am fine," came the muffled reply and Luna rolled over carefully. Her nose was canted to the left, her face was covered with blood, and one eye was rapidly purpling.

"Oh yeah, you look bloody fantastic," Ginny said in a deadpan. "You're going to St. Mungo's."

* * *

It was an easy break to fix, thankfully, and Luna departed the hospital about an hour later. Ginny accompanied her, still burning with guilt. It was her fault Luna had broken her nose, her conscience reminded her. If she hadn't been so insistent, Luna wouldn't have tried to flee and certainly wouldn't have tripped.

"It's okay, you know," Luna interrupted her reverie. Ginny started, looking at Luna with wide brown eyes. Luna smiled.

"Stop blaming yourself," Luna said. "I should have looked where I was going."

"I shouldn't have tried to make you talk, though," Ginny argued. Without thinking, she linked hands with Luna. "It was wrong. I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about anything if you don't want to."

"Thank you," Luna said quietly. She'd frozen a bit when Ginny's fingers laced through hers, but she didn't take her hand away. "I shouldn't have overreacted. It was fine to ask. I kind of wanted you to actually."

"Then- what did you mean about your relationship woes?" Ginny asked.

"When I found out that it was you who mis-texted me this morning, I kind of hoped that it wasn't a mis-text," Luna explained, studying the ground as they walked. A blush reddened her face up to her ears.

"What do you-oh," Ginny stopped. "Um, well. I was trying to text Harry," she said.

"I know," Luna said. "Like I said, you have your Harry."

"You know, I'm not actually sure I want to be with him," Ginny said in a rush. "Don't get me wrong, he's lovely and I do like him, but it feels...expected."

"I understand that," Luna replied. Her smile was wistful. "It is okay to fall in with what's expected. And it's okay to make your own path. Maybe you should find out which you prefer."

"Maybe," Ginny echoed, sounding dazed. She felt dazed.

"Think about it," Luna said. "I should get home now. Thank you for taking me to St. Mungo's." She gently disengaged her hand from Ginny's.

"No problem," Ginny said, watching her go.

* * *

 _"Luna, I was thinking about what you said."_

 _"Oh?"_

 _"I told Harry about it."_

 _"How did that go?"_

 _"He kind of feels the same way. We're going on break for a bit to figure it out."_

 _"I hope that you're all right."_

 _"Yeah, um, anyway, I was texting you for a reason."_

 _"What is it?"_

 _"Do you want to go to Diagon Alley with me on Saturday?"_

 _"I would love to."_


End file.
